The U.S. Supreme Court rejected NOM's attempt to stop Gay and Lesbian couples from marrying in Oregon in a curt one-sentence order on June 4.

On May 27, NOM appealed to Justice Anthony Kennedy, who supervises federal courts in Oregon, to stay the ruling of U.S. District Judge Michael McShane striking down Oregon's ban on same-sex marriage. The next day, Kennedy asked the parties to the Oregon case to submit briefs explaining their positions, but did not stay McShane's ruling.

Kennedy then referred NOM's petition to the full Supreme Court, which denied NOM's request for a stay.

'The application for a stay presented to Justice Kennedy and by him referred to the Court is denied,' the court's order said.

Gay and Lesbian couples have been entitled to marry in Oregon since McShane ruled on May 19, and the effect of the Supreme Court's order is that they may continue to do so.

NOM still has an appeal pending with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals asking them to reverse McShane's decision that they may not intervene to defend Oregon's former marriage law, which barred same-sex marriage.

NOM argued that since Oregon state officials refused to defend the law, NOM should be allowed to do so. McShane ruled that the anti-Gay group lacked standing when they failed to produce a single Oregon citizen who claimed to be harmed by same-sex marriage.

In a previous case from Utah, the Supreme Court did stay a district judge's ruling allowing same-sex marriage, but in that case state officials - who unquestionably have standing - were actively pursuing an appeal.

In the Oregon case, the question was whether NOM was likely to succeed in its bid to intervene in the first place. That question is still before the Ninth Circuit, but the Supreme Court's June 4 order seems to indicate the justices believe NOM will fail.

The ACLU, which filed a brief opposing NOM's request for a stay, applauded the Supreme Court's decision.

'With marriages continuing in Oregon, we have 44 percent of the country living in a freedom-to-marry state: same-sex couples are now part of marriage in America today,' said James Esseks, director of the ACLU Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender Project.

'Across the country, more and more Americans are embracing the truth that their friends, family, and neighbors in same-sex couples deserve the protection and dignity that only comes with marriage.'

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